Bitcoin is just a giant energy-sapping slot machine (Opinion)

About “Bitcoin miners benefit from Texas trading,(November 27): Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, says that, essentially, Bitcoin miners that tap into Texas’ grid power will have a “traditional load” of less than if there were no miners. It says it keeps prices low for customers. Other Bitcoin Abracadabra claims that our country’s oil and gas industry supports this. While the electricity needs fueled by miners benefit from being met by production from marginal wells that would otherwise be clogged, an unpleasant byproduct is the huge That’s the noise from the fans needed to cool the equipment, not to mention the carbon emissions from the oil. and gas operations.

All this rigamarole is supposed to convert natural gas into a more valuable commodity, i.e. Bitcoin, which is similar to a “1000-sided die”, but nowhere is there an explanation of the actual value Bitcoin creates. there is no. There’s every indication that it’s just a gigantic, electricity-hungry slot machine.

Regarding “Why Do Older Politicians Continue to Run? (Opinion)” (November 25): My former White House colleague Mary Kate Carey (of whom I am one) said that the baby boomer generation He did an excellent job of analyzing why people are so reluctant to give up. High status, or the desire for it. I would like to add one more element. It is a self-imagined destiny. Explore popular publications from the 1960s and her ’70s and read how journalists of the time hailed the emerging generation as supremely talented. Of course, the fact that the journalists themselves are baby boomers meant their praise was self-congratulatory. This is especially true for people on the left, who consider themselves more morally superior to their elders because they (the boomers) were against all the bad (Vietnam and Nixon) and for all the good (peace and love). I was sure it was excellent. If you believed since your 20s that God had chosen you to be a leader, why would you change your mind just half a century later?

By the way, I don’t believe Virginia resident Mary Kate mentioned Houston mayoral candidates John Whitmire and Sheila Jackson Lee in her original article. Moreover, they are 74 and 73 years old respectively, which is still young compared to Joe Biden and Donald Trump!

Chase Untermyer, Houston

I was amused by Mary Kate Carey’s article announcing with the headline that Biden, Trump, Whitmire, and Jackson Lee’s elected officials “will not retire.”

She points out that these people, who were elected by voters nationally (Biden), locally (Whitmire and Jackson Lee), or who simply appeared on the ballot (Trump), have no place in office, in her opinion. hinted that he was too old and had some obligation to retire. Of course they have that option. Just as the people who nominated and voted them into office so many times had the opportunity to vote for them and their opponents. Local, state, and national laws impose term limits on most positions.

Ms. Cary, an adjunct professor at one of our nation’s great universities (University of Virginia), may wish these “old” elected and former elected officials would retire quickly. do not have. I’d like to know how old (or young) Cary is, and at what age he plans to retire.

Jim Greenwood (80+), Houston

About “Smoking reduces anxiety, but cooking is now a better vice” (November 25): Theodore R. Johnson opined about how he struggled to quit smoking. He admitted that he continued to resist the temptation of nicotine, and while cooking and preparing meals, the nicotine progression eventually subsided for him. He concluded: Routine becomes his solution when he replaces one habit with another.

I started getting addicted to nicotine when I was pregnant. I suspect Mr. Johnson’s experience was similar. Almost all adult men used tobacco. Smoking, chewing, soaking, sniffing. Although there are several aspects involved in a habit, the first step for users is to admit that chemical addiction is demonic down to the smallest detail.

When I finally accepted my addiction, I sought help by chewing Nicorette gum, the only product available at the time. At first, I chewed gum so much that I got a canker sore! Determined to break my addiction, I suffered through it. The pain felt like a scab being torn off my lungs, and I almost gave up on my quest. After almost three months, his lungs began to heal. The pain was replaced by the sweet taste of pure air. I overcame my addiction. That was in July 1984.

Since then, I have no cravings or tolerance for nicotine or its smell. I conclude his two important things from my experience. It’s about admitting to yourself that nicotine is an addiction (not just a habit) and making a full-fledged effort to break the addiction.

Jerry DeFoor, Jersey Village

About “Governor Greg Abbott skydives with 106-year-old World War II veteran” (Nov. 27): Houston Chronicle staffers turned what could have been a captivating heroic story into a defiant story. You should be ashamed of yourself for turning it into a story like this. Governor Greg Abbott metaphor. Only a few paragraphs were written about the governor’s skydiving with a 106-year-old World War II veteran, and the remaining paragraphs were about Mr. Abbott’s failed school aid plan. Readers knew nothing about war hero Al Blaschke, but they learned that the Chronicle was a journalistic disgrace that demonstrated its own political, anti-Abbott agenda.

Edward A. Vesely, Houston